Ngawang Kunga Wangyal, the twenty-sixth Sakya throneholder, was born in 1592. His father was Ngagchang Dragpa Lodrö Gyaltsen, the twenty-fifth Sakya throneholder. His two brothers were the great master Tutob Wangchuk (1588 – 1646) and Jamgön Anye Shyap Kunga Sonam, the twenty-seventh Sakya throneholder.